Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/08/07

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] Old lens, new lens
From: pklein at 2alpha.net (Peter Klein)
Date: Tue Aug 7 23:45:46 2007

Last weekend I took a few M8 shots of some friends as we hiked in a Seattle 
park along the water in the late afternoon.  Among those pictures were two, 
similarly lit, of the same three people, but taken with two different 
lenses.  The size of the faces on the images are almost the same, inviting 
comparison.

One lens was an old Canon Serenar 50/1.8 from the 1950s, recently CLAed by 
DAG.  The other was a current 35 Summilux ASPH.

Take a look at these 100% crops of a face.  Put them side by side if you 
can.  This is not a resolution contest.  It's simply a comparison of how 
the lenses draw, under similar (not absolutely identical) conditions.

Here is the old Canon 50/1.8, 1/90 at f/11
http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/temp/L1001098-1to1-50-1_8Canon-w.jpg

And here is the 35 Summilux ASPH, 1/180 at f/8.
http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/temp/L1001109-1to1-35LuxAsph-w.jpg

Both were processed in Capture One with the same white balance (5000K), and 
with sharpening at the first "notch."  Both are one stop down from their 
best aperture.  Both shots used an IR filter (I have a 40mm lens 
hood/Series VI filter holder for the Canon, and the 39mm B+W IR filter fits 
in nicely).The warmer picture (the Canon) was actually taken about an hour 
earlier, so the warmth is in the lens, not the time of day.  Canon 1/90 at 
f/11, Lux Asph 1/180 at f/8, both one stop narrower than their probable 
best apertures.

On the M8 sensor, the Lux is resolving a little bit more detail in the 
hair.  But that's not what's really important.  The Canon has less 
microcontrast, and there's a definite "glow" to the image.  It's also a 
much kinder lens.  The Lux ASPH is mercilessly sharp and contrasty.

My suspicion is at least one aspect of the elusive "Leica Glow" has to do 
with the way that bright areas diffuse slightly into adjacent dark areas. 
An optical "flaw," but one that has a very pleasant effect under the right 
circumstances.

On film, my favorite 50mm lens, the DR Summicron, draws very much like the 
Canon. Which makes me all the more eager to try the latter on the 
M8.  Anyway, Sean Reid is right, those old designs make great sunny-day 
lenses. And they are a lot kinder to people over 25!

--Peter


Replies: Reply from hoppyman at bigpond.net.au (G Hopkinson) ([Leica] Old lens, new lens)
Reply from hewthompson at mac.com (Hugh Thompson) ([Leica] Old lens, new lens)
Reply from nathan at nathanfoto.com (Nathan Wajsman) ([Leica] Old lens, new lens)
Reply from philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent) ([Leica] Old lens, new lens)